High On LeConte
  • Home
  • Daily Posts
  • FAQ's
  • Trail Guide
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer

and i don't know where i'm going no more. i don't know. and i don't care.

3/5/2015

 
Picture
There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details. The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me. Edward Abbey

Morning y'all,

It's another blustery, grey day up top. The high yesterday reached 47 degrees. The overnight low was 39 degrees. It was 40 degrees and clear at 7am observation. The mountain received another .76 inches of rain and there is still patchy snow and ice remaining up top. Alum is pretty much clear, but there are a few sections that I'd suggest using Microspikes for. I'd imagine it'll be even less treacherous today, so get out and enjoy it!

Picture

I had a fantastic hike up Alum yesterday afternoon. The temperatures were unbelievable to me - I'd forgotten what consistent warmth felt like. I found myself bracing to go outside, only to be surprised by how incredible 70 degrees felt. It felt like a foreign concept to be in a t-shirt and shorts without feeling like a fool. It was a fantastic afternoon to hike up, with patches of ice strewn across the waterlogged ground and warm, heavy spring scented air - characteristic of the shift between the two seasons. I passed my last set of folks near Gracie's Pulpit (they caught me singing 'I Shall Be Released' as I hiked up, alone, I thought) and enjoyed the solitude of one of my final hikes up the mountain for the season. The winds really picked up on some of the ledges and the squally weather was on the horizon. It almost looked like a thunderstorm. Even if I refuse to believe what the calendar says, it now seems apparent that winter is winding down on the mountain. The real world doesn't lie.

Picture
norman
3/5/2015 01:28:46 am

Realy like Edward Abbey quote. I'm reading "A History of Many Glacier Hotel" by John Hagen; interresting! Back to Mt LeConte, love the pictures.

Anna
3/5/2015 02:03:01 am

Especially love the 3rd photo!

Jenny B. link
3/5/2015 02:18:34 am

I am a big fan of Abbey. But don't ever think of him as a pious, reverential sort in regard to nature. He was a fierce, angry man. He did his best to attack the forces of development and destruction of the wild landscape. That's why I love him!

Nate
3/5/2015 02:28:45 am

See reply below. 😉

cboone link
3/5/2015 02:24:49 am

J.P your pictures and up dates of all the many things going on in and around the Mountain,Lodge,and all your adventures wed. up date on weather etc.just makes my day complete.It is going to be very hard not hearing from you each day and I would love to hear from you sometime when you return to my second favorite place New Hampshire!!!! I would love to meet you some day but since that isn't likely I will look forward hearing from you Nov.25,2015 if not sooner.

Wishing you a good day from Ms.
Cboone

norman
3/5/2015 03:46:01 am

Do 'Nov.25,2015' mean JP is winter caretaker 2015-2016??

Nate
3/5/2015 02:27:22 am

I completely agree with you Jenny! I'm currently reading The Monkey Wrench Gang and he doesn't hide his disgust for businesses that do any harm to the environment. That said, I do find him to be an excellent writer with the ability to vividly paint a picture with words.

Jenny B link
3/5/2015 02:51:09 am

Agreed. He was an amazing writer, totally opposed to cliches and dedicated to the concrete particulars of the moment--the truth of the experience. It is rare to find someone who had a big cause but never sacrificed his larger ideas to his honest, truthful observation of details whether or not they fit into anyone's larger scheme.

cboone link
3/5/2015 05:23:58 am

Norman,J.P.hasn't said if he will be back but I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will.The crew will be coming soon and he will be leaving but hopefully when the season closes the day before Thanksgiving he will be back for the winter caretaker till the following March when the crew returns.I am looking forward to hearing from Ruthie and hope she will have a good season but will miss Allyson and Chris.My husbad,daughter and Iwill be going to the Smokies April 25,and will try to visit Allyson and Chris's new business in Gatlinburg.

Talk too much in Ms.
Cboone

Donna
3/5/2015 07:39:45 am

I just finished reading a wonderful article about you J.P. and LeConte Lodge in the free Smoky Mountain News. It is a lovely article and certainly gives a taste of what the off season brings for the winter caretaker at LeConte. www.smokymountainnews.com

Jim
3/5/2015 09:05:42 am

Hey JP...

What were your favorite reads this winter?

JP
3/6/2015 12:00:12 am

Jim,

I come here in part to recharge with my favorites. I do a lot of re-reading; Abbey, Thoreau, Whitman, Oliver & the Dhammapada are perennial favorites. The best new things I read this year were Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of Love, Henry Mitchell's The Summer Boy & Between Times, and American Earth.

I already miss my library.

scott
3/5/2015 10:26:23 pm

Hey JP

I just want to let you know we will be looking for you on the trials in the NH whites this year so we can meet you. Before your vac: in TN again this year was there last year for the first time can't wait to go back there this year.

JP
3/6/2015 12:01:32 am

Scott,

That sounds great. I will be in the Randolph area. Email me when you visit. jpkrol@gmail.com... if I don't respond, it's because I am in the woods Monday-Friday!


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    LeConte Lodge

    Welcome to the official blog of LeConte Lodge. We hope you find the information provided here both helpful and enjoyable.  Thank you for visiting the site, and we hope to see you on the mountain!

    Online Store

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010

    RSS Feed

For current GSMNP road and trail information, visit the Park's Twitter page, official website, or call 865-436-1200 and follow the prompts.
  • Home
  • Daily Posts
  • FAQ's
  • Trail Guide
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer

Picture

Picture

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture